Uncatalogued  Booklet       M2685 
Location=Cabinet 

Bryner,  B.  C. 

"Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria 
Illinois" 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnin02bryn 


♦♦ 


Abraham  SJtttrnln  in  f  wria 


t/o*/ 


1.  (£.  Irynrr 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  SPEAKING  FROM  THE  STEPS  OF  THE  OLD  PEORIA 
COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE  ON  THE  NIGHT  OF  OCTOBER    16,    1854 

Pnblisljr&  hij 

ICtttmht  ijtHtonral  ^ublisliing  (En.,  424  Jffultmt  ^trrrt  Jprnrta,  JUttuitfl 


HENRY    B.   RANKIN 

5IO   SOUTH    SEC  O  N  D     STREET 

SPRINGFIELD.ILLINOIS 


October  25rd,19£4. 

Mr*  Edward  J»  Jacob 
424  Fulton  St.,  Pooria 

Ky  Dear  5ir:- 

No  more  pleasant  surprise,  or  worthy 
appreciation  of  a  City's  remembrance  of  Lincoln  has  ever 
come  to  me  than  in  your  courteously  inscribed  copy  of 
"Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  1854".   It  tells  the  story  of 
him  there  so  fully  and  correctly  that  I  am  back  in  those 
eventful  days  again. 

"Seventy  Years  After",  I  then  a  lad  of  seventeen  years! 
Two  years  'later  found  me  a  law  student  in  Lincoln's  office 
amid  the  full  stress  of  events  there  that  culminated  in  the 
historv  making  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates  of  1858. 

Then  came  a  lull  in  the  political  storms  and  stress  that 
had  centered  about  the  Lincoln  law  office.   Lincoln  was 
restless,  unsettled,  unhappy.   At  this  time  it  was  that  he 
received  the  invitation  to  come  to  New  York  and  deliver  a 
lecture.   He  accepted.   No  longer  was  he  Lincoln,  The  Lawyer fc 
Lincoln  became  his  best  self  again. 

Days  and  nights  through  studious  weeks  he  was  in  the 
State  Library  and  office  files  of  papers  and  campaign  scrap 
books,  composing  the  manuscript  copy  of  the  Cooper  Institute 
Speech*   Those  weeks  made  him  President.   Events  following 
that  speech  swiftly  changed  the  current  of  United  States 
History.   That  speech  began  its  growth  with  "Lincoln  in  Peoria, 
1854". 

I  look  on,  and  through  your  "Abraham  Lincoln,  in  Peoria"*- 
a  bock  so  finely  printed  and  so  beautifully  bound,  —  as 
chronicling   the  beginning  of  the  moral,  political  and  civil 
strife  that  made  this  Nation  an  United  People  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  its  geographic  name. 

You  have  accomplished  a  great  service  to  historv  la 
bringing  this  volume  into  publication. 

Your  thankful  and  cordial  friend. 

— An    unsolicited    letter    from     the    author    of:       "Intimate     Character    Sketches    ©f     Abraham     Lincoln," 
"Footsteps    of    Abraham    Lincoln,"    "Personal     Recollections    of    Abraham    Lincoln." 


"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  IN  PEORIA,   ILLINOIS" 

By  B.  C.  BRYNER 

The  Newest  Book  on  Lincoln 

October  16th,  1854,  at  Peoria,  Lincoln  and  Douglas  met  in  debate. 
It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  writer,  then  a  boy  and  an  ardent  "Doug- 
las man,"  to  have  been  present.  Telling  of  the  incident  one  day  to  the 
publisher  he  was  so  persistently  urged  that  it  be  written  up  that  consent 
was  finally  given,  with  the  result  that  upon  the  70th  anniversary  of 
the  occasion  a  beautiful  little  volume  was  gotten  out,  "One  Hundred 
Copies,  Privately  Printed,  October  Sixteenth,  Nineteen  Twenty-four, 
Not  for  Sale." 

The  writer  cannot  refrain  from  publicly  expressing  his  surprise  and 
pleasure  at  the  reception  it  has  received  and  the  many  requests  for  gen- 
eral distribution.  Complying  with  this  demand  a  second  edition,  greatly 
enlarged  and  containing  over  three  hundred  pages,  has  been  issued.  It 
includes  the  first  edition  complete,  relating  many  historical  incidents 
in  the  lives  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas  never  before  published.  It  reprints 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  famous  tribute  to  Lincoln  and  a  facsimile  of  a  4 
page  newspaper  published  in  1854.  It  also  contains  a  copy  of  the  fa- 
mous Herndon  Broadside  referring  to  the  Peoria  speech  and  additional 
matter  such  as  pictures  of  Peoria  as  it  then  appeared — early  steamboats — ■ 
the  first  railroad  train  to  enter  town  over  the  Bureau  Valley  road  (now 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific)  from  Chicago,  which  incident 
occurred  November  7th,  1854,  three  weeks  after  the  Lincoln-Douglas 
debate  of  October  16th — hotels  where  accommodations  were  furnished 
for  man  and  beast — a  picture  of  Peoria  in  1832  when  Lincoln  passed 
through  on  foot  upon  his  return  from  the  Black  Hawk  war — the  old 
market  house;  also,  after  a  long  search,  we  have  found  a  partial  report 
of  Judge  Douglas'  address,  preceding  Mr.  Lincoln's  on  October  16, 
1854.  As  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  this  is  the  first  time  this 
speech  has  been  published  in  any  book. 

All  these  elements  create  an  atmosphere  from  which  may  be  formed  a 
picture  which,  it  is  confidently  believed,  will  prove  of  interest  and  value 
to  the  ever-increasing  army  of  students  of  the  stirring  times  which  pre- 
ceded our  National  recognition. 

Lincoln's  speech  as  given  in  the  first  edition  is  taken  from  the  Peoria 
Transcript.  Upon  Lincoln's  return  to  Springfield  he,  three  days  later, 
wrote  out  and  revised  it,  desiring  no  doubt  to  give  a  more  clear  and  not 
to  be  misunderstood  expression  of  his  views  upon  the  questions  then 
at  issue.  In  this  volume  is  given  the  reporter's  copy  as  it  was  printed  in 
the  first  edition  as  well  as  the  address  as  personally  written  and  corrected 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  his  return  to  Springfield.  This  is  the  only  speech 
so  treated. 

To  the  present  generation  the  picture  would  not  be  complete  without 
visioning  the  state  of  the  public  mind  at  that  time.  I  have  therefore 
featured  local  incidents  and  scenes  and  presented  other  matter  that  may 
serve  to  a  clearer  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  time  of  which 
I  write. 

B.  C.  Bryner, 


A  SUMMARY 
OF  OUTSTANDING  FEATURES 

PUBLISHED  IN 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN   IN  PEORIA,   ILLINOIS" 

Over  300  pages — a  perfect  example  of  the  printers'  and  illustrators' 
arts. 

A  facsimile  of  Lincoln's  speech  in  Peoria  on  the  night  of  October 
16,  1854,  which  took  three  hours  to  deliver,  as  written  and  edited  by 
Lincoln  himself.    First  time  ever  published  in  this  manner. 

A  new  picture  of  Lincoln  (see  page  15  of  this  booklet)  that  has 
not  before  been  published. 

Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  famous  tribute  to  Lincoln. 

A  former  (smaller)  edition  of  "Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois,"  com- 
plete. 

Judge  Douglas'  address  on  the  afternoon  of  October  16,  1854,  to 
which  Lincoln  replied  in  the  evening  (never  before  published  in  book 
form).  This  address  is  of  great  assistance  in  the  study  of  Abraham 
Lincoln's  Peoria  speech. 

Delightfully  intimate  stories  of  early  days  in  Peoria  and  the  Middle 
West — all  built  around  Lincoln. 

The  famous  Herndon  (Lincoln's  law  partner)  Broadside  about 
Lincoln  in  Peoria,  a  valuable  historical  document. 

Facsimile  reproductions  of  notes  in  Lincoln's  handwriting  referring 
to  his  Peoria  speech. 

A  story  of  Lincoln  in  Peoria  in  1832 — when  he  was  23,  illustrated. 

Facsimile  copy  of  four-page  paper,  Peoria  City  Record,  published 
March  4,  1854. 

Facsimile  of  the  invitation  extended  to  Abraham  Lincoln  to  answer 
Judge  Douglas  on  October  16,  1854,  signed  by  many  Peorians. 

Full-page  map  of  the  State  of  Illinois  published  in  1857,  showing 
the  old  land  trails,  many  of  them  traveled  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Etching  of  Casper  Conant  the  close  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  who 
painted  the  smiling  portrait  of  him  from  life,  and  interesting  historical 
matter  by  Grant  Wright,  noted  New  York  artist,  and  a  former  Peorian. 

Charles  Overall,  a  Peoria  artist,  has  painted  two  remarkable  His- 
torical Pictures  depicting  the  night  of  October  16,  1854.  One  vividly 
portrays  the  thousands  of  interested  listeners  gathered  before  the  old 
Peoria  County  Court  House;  the  other  a  close-up  of  Lincoln  as  he 
stood,  in  characteristic  pose,  before  the  vast  audience.  Much  time  was 
spent  in  research  in  order  to  have  the  scenes  historically  correct.  Repro- 
ductions, in  colors,  of  these  paintings  are  features  of  this  book.  A 
smaller  reproduction  of  one  painting  is  shown  on  the  cover  of  this 
prospectus. 

Address  by  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  delivered  at  the  time  of  Lincoln's 
assassination,  never  before  published  in  book  form. 

Eugene  Baldwin's  famous  tribute  to  Abraham  Lincoln. 

2 


The  book  contains  a  reproduction  of  a  full-page  map  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  published  in  1857,  showing  the  old  land  trails,  many  of 
them  traveled  by  Abraham  Lincoln  when  he  rode  the  circuit. 


O'ER   OLD   PEORIA   LAND   TRAILS 
WITH  LINCOLN 

Let  us  unfetter  fancy  and  wander  over  old  trails  with  one  whose 
humanity  and  love  are  the  blessed  legacy  of  the  world's  most  favored 
nation. 

Mid  sunshine  and  storm — heat  and  cold — dust  and  wind — biting 
frost  and  pitiless  summer  suns — Lincoln  went  these  ways  through  toil 
and  hardship,  learning  in  the  school  of  experience  lessons  untaught  in 
academy  or  college. 

A  tall,  ungainly  figure  on  horseback  or  hunched  up  in  a  buggy,  his 
knees  and  chin  in  close  companionship,  with  perhaps  a  fellow  traveler 
by  his  side — the  way  beguiled  by  stories  of  inimitable  wit  and  humor — 
broad  at  times — but  always  replete  with  wisdom  and  kindliness.  Across 
virgin  prairies  abloom  with  bluebells — through  the  dells  of  the  Mack- 
inaw, by  the  banks  of  the  Illinois,  wading  sparkling  streams  alive  with 
leaping  life — climbing  hills,  enfolding  lakes  that  mirror  encircling 
heights.  Squirrels  chattered  and  sprang  from  limb  to  limb  of  trees 
laden  with  acorn  and  hickory  nut.  Birds  sang  and  wild  fowl  sped 
to  cover  unharmed,  for  Lincoln  carried  no  gun,  as  was  the  wont  of 
other  travelers.  His  great  tender  heart  loved  all  creatures  and  all  were 
safe  at  his  hands.  Was  it  not  in  the  notes  of  the  singing  birds,  the 
whispering  leaves  and  the  flow  of  waters,  he  learned  the  music  of  those 
words  that  shall  live  till  prairie  and  forest  and  wind  and  wave  shall 
be  no  more? 

When  alone  did  he  meditate  upon  ills  he  would  suppress,  did  he 
note  that  nature's  fruits  ripened  in  their  season  and  did  he  learn  that 
philosophy  which  bade  him  bide  the  season  and  wait  the  opportunity 
that  came  at  last? 

This  page  of  my  book  I  dedicate  to  dreams;  all  others  are  given  to 
facts,  unadorned,  yet  beautiful  to  those  who  love  a  manhood  of  childish 
simplicity  and  love  supreme. 

May  future  generations  follow  the  trails  that  Lincoln  trod! 

— From  "Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois." 
3 


Some  poet  has  said:  "Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread."  At  the  hazard  of 
being  thought  one  of  the  fools  of  this  quotation,  I  meet  that  argument — /  rush  in — / 
take  the  bull  by  the  horns.  I  trust  I  understand  and  truly  estimate  the  right  of  self- 
government. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.    16,   1854. 


THE  following  eight  pages  present  "The  Peoria  Speech" 
as  viewed  by  ten  of  the  greatest  authorities  on  Lincoln. 
Read  what  these  historians  say  about  the  speech  he  made 
that  day — and  then  remember  that  in  this  new  book  this 
speech,  which  took  three  hours  to  deliver,  is  presented  in  its 
entirety  as  personally  edited  and  proof-read  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
himself — also  Mr.  Douglas'  preceding  speech. 

It  becomes  more  and  more  apparent  to  the  student  of 
the  life  of  Lincoln  that  his  address  at  Peoria  on  October  16th, 
1854,  was  the  turning  point  in  his  career  and  that  it  is  de- 
serving of  separate  study. 


DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE 

Quotations  from  the  great  "Peoria  Speech"  appear  more  frequently 
than  from  any  other  of  Lincoln's  speeches  or  debates.  David  Lloyd 
George,  who  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Lincoln's  Tomb  on  October  18, 
1923,  in  an  address  at  Springfield,  111.,  said: 

"There  are  the  great  men  of  the  party,  and  the  great  men  of  creeds. 
There  are  the  great  men  of  their  time,  and  there  are  the  great  men  of 
all  time  of  their  own  native  land;  but  Lincoln  was  a  great  man  of  all 
time,  for  all  parties,  for  all  lands  and  for  all  races  of  men.  He  was  the 
choice  and  champion  of  a  party,  but  his  lofty  soul  could  see  over  and 
beyond  party  walls  the  unlimited  terrain  beyond.  His  motto  was: 
'Stand  with  anybody  that  stands  right.  Stand  with  him  while  he  is 
right,  and  part  with  him  when  he  goes  wrong.'  Those  were  his  own 
words.  No  pure  partisan  would  ever  assent  to  so  discriminating  and 
disintegrating  a  proposition." 


/  hate  slavery  because  it  deprives  our  republican  example  of  its  just  influence  in 
the  world;  enables  the  enemies  of  free  institutions  with  plausibility  to  taunt  us  as 
hypocrites;  and  causes  the  real  friends  of  freedom  to  doubt  our  sincerity. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.   16,   1854. 


JOHN  G  NICOLAY 

and 

JOHN  HAY 

"The  fame  of  this  success  brought  Lincoln  urgent  calls  from  all  the 
places  where  Douglas  was  expected  to  speak.  Accordingly,  twelve  days 
afterwards,  October  16th,  they  once  more  met  in  debate,  at  Peoria. 
Lincoln,  as  before,  gave  Douglas  the  opening  and  closing  speeches, 
explaining  that  he  was  willing  to  yield  this  advantage  in  order  to  secure 
a  hearing  from  the  Democratic  portion  of  his  listeners.  The  audience 
was  a  large  one,  but  not  so  representative  in  its  character  as  that  at 
Springfield.  The  occasion  was  made  memorable,  however,  by  the  fact 
that  when  Lincoln  returned  home  he  wrote  out  and  published  his  speech. 
We  have  therefore  the  revised  text  of  his  argument,  and  are  able  to 
estimate  its  character  and  value.  Marking  as  it  does  with  unmistakable 
precision  a  step  in  the  second  period  of  his  intellectual  development,  it 
deserves  the  careful  attention  of  the  student  of  his  life. 

"After  the  lapse  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  critical 
reader  still  finds  it  a  model  of  brevity,  directness,  terse  diction,  exact  and 
lucid  historical  statement,  and  full  of  logical  propositions  so  short  and 
so  strong  as  to  resemble  mathematical  axioms.  Above  all  it  is  pervaded 
by  an  elevation  of  thought  and  aim  that  lifts  it  out  of  the  common- 
place of  mere  party  controversy.  Comparing  it  with  his  later  speeches, 
we  find  it  to  contain  not  only  the  argument  of  the  hour,  but  the  pre- 
monition of  the  broader  issues  into  which  the  new  struggle  was  destined 
soon  to  expand.  The  main,  broad  current  of  his  reasoning  was  to 
vindicate  and  restore  the  policy  of  the  fathers  of  the  country  in  the 
restriction  of  slavery;  but  running  through  this  like  a  thread  of  gold 
was  the  demonstration  of  the  essential  injustice  and  immorality  of  the 
system." 

"Abraham  Lincoln,"  a  History,  published  by  The  Century  Co.,  New  York. 

5 


[0%mM 


We  know  that  some  Southern  men  do  free  their  slaves,  go  North  and  become 
tip- top  abolitionists,  while  some  Northern  ones  go  South  and  become  most  cruel  slave- 
masters. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.    16,   1854. 


NATHANIEL  WRIGHT  STEPHENSON 

"Though  his  first  reply  to  Douglas  was  not  recorded,  his  second, 
made  at  Peoria  twelve  days  later,  still  exists.  It  is  a  landmark  in  his 
career.  It  sums  up  all  his  long,  slow  development  in  political  science, 
lays  the  abiding  foundation  of  everything  he  thought  thereafter.  In 
this  great  speech,  the  end  of  his  novitiate,  he  rings  the  changes  on  the 
white  man's  charter  of  freedom.  He  argues  that  the  extension  of 
slavery  tends  to  discredit  republican  institutions,  and  to  disappoint  'the 
Liberal  party  throughout  the  world.'    The  heart  of  his  argument  is: 

'Whether  slavery  shall  go  into  Nebraska  or  other  new  territories  is 
not  a  matter  of  exclusive  concern  to  the  people  who  may  go  there.  The 
whole  nation  is  interested  that  the  best  use  shall  be  made  of  these  terri- 
tories. We  want  them  for  homes  for  free  white  people.  This  they  can 
not  be  to  any  considerable  extent,  if  slavery  shall  be  planted  within 
them.  Slave  States  are  places  for  poor  white  people  to  remove  from, 
not  remove  to.  New  Free  States  are  the  places  for  poor  people  to  go  to 
and  better  their  condition.  For  this  use  the  nation  needs  these  terri- 
tories.' 

"The  speech  was  a  masterpiece  of  simplicity,  of  lucidity.  It  showed 
the  great  jury  lawyer  at  his  best.  Its  temper  was  as  admirable  as  its 
logic;  not  a  touch  of  anger  nor  of  vituperation." 

"Lincoln,"  published  by  The  Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


-4*£ 


^^m^m 


Near  eighty  years  ago  we  began  by  declaring  that  all  men  are  created  equal;  but 
now  from  that  beginning  we  have  run  down  to  the  other  declaration,  that  for  some 
men  to  enslave  others  is  a  "sacred  right  of  self-government." 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.   16,   1854. 

DANIEL  KILHAM  DODGE 

Professor  of  English,  University  of  Illinois. 

"The  great  'Peoria  Speech,'  of  October  16,  1854,  marks  the  return 
of  Lincoln  to  politics  and  it  may  also  properly  be  regarded  as  preparing 
the  way  for  the  Debates  of  four  years  later.  For  it  not  only  dealt  with 
the  same  general  questions  involved  in  these  Debates — the  extension  of 
slavery  into  the  territories  and  the  question  of  the  justice  or  injustice 
of  the  institution  of  slavery  itself — but  it  was  actually  a  rejoinder  to 
Senator  Douglas,  who  had  delivered  a  speech  at  the  same  place  that 
afternoon.  Apparently  preceding  this  speech  by  a  few  months  are 
some  interesting  fragments  on  slavery,  in  which  Lincoln,  with  his  re- 
markable ability  to  get  the  fundamentals  of  a  subject,  exposes  the 
injustice  of  the  whole  system. 

"Although  dealing  with  the  same  subject  as  the  Debates,  the  'Peoria 
Speech'  differs  from  them  in  being  more  distinctly  literary  and  imagina- 
tive. In  the  number  of  its  quotations  not  strictly  political  and  practical, 
for  example,  it  surpasses  all  of  Lincoln's  other  speeches.  There  are 
twelve  quotations,  seven  of  them  from  the  Bible.  For  many  orators 
twelve  quotations  in  a  speech  of  three  hours  would  not  be  at  all  remark- 
able. But  Lincoln  did  not,  as  a  rule,  quote  freely  and  some  of  his 
speeches  do  not  contain  any  quotations.  Apparently,  his  tendency  to 
quote  depended  upon  emotional,  rather  than  intellectual  grounds,  the 
quoted  passages  adding  beauty  and  distinction,  rather  than  clearness, 
to  the  spoken  word.  Thus,  the  very  emotional  'Second  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress' contains  four  times  as  many  quotations  as  the  more  argumenta- 
tive 'First  Inaugural  Address,'  although  it  is  only  a  fourth  as  long. 
In  the  'Peoria  Address'  we  find  to  a  preeminent  degree  those  qualities 
ascribed  by  Lincoln  to  Clay:  'That  deeply  earnest  and  impassioned  tone 
and  manner,  which  can  proceed  only  from  great  sincerity  and  a  thor- 
ough conviction  in  the  speaker  of  the  justice  and  importance  of  his 
cause.'  " 

From  "Abraham  Lincoln,   Master  of  Words," 
published  by  D.  Appleton  8  Co.,  New  York. 
7 


^S^ 


Before  proceeding  let  me  say  that  I  think  I  have  no  prejudice  against  the  Southern 
people.  They  are  just  what  we  would  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery  did  not  now 
exist   among    them,    they    would    not    introduce    it.      If    it    did    now    exist    among    us, 


should  not  instantly  give  it  up. 


Peoria,  III.,  Oct.    16,    1854 


J.  G.  HOLLAND 

"The  next  meeting  between  the  two  party  champions  took  place 
at  Peoria,  though  not  by  pre-arrangement.  Mr.  Lincoln  followed  Mr. 
Douglas  to  Peoria,  and  challenged  him  there,  as  he  had  done  at  Spring- 
field.  At  Peoria,  Mr.  Lincoln's  triumph  was  even  more  marked  than  at 
Springfield,  for  his  antagonist  had  lost  something  of  his  assurance.  He 
was  a  wounded  and  weakened  man,  indeed.  He  had  become  conscious 
that  he  was  not  invulnerable.  He  had  been  a  witness  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
power  over  the  people;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  his  faith  in  his  own 
position  had  been  shaken.  It  was  noticed  at  Peoria  that  his  manner  was 
much  modified,  and  that  he  betrayed  a  lack  of  confidence  in  himself, 
not  at  all  usual  with  him.  Here,  as  at  Springfield,  Mr.  Lincoln  occupied 
more  than  three  hours  in  the  delivery  of  his  speech,  and  it  came  down 
upon  Mr.  Douglas  so  crushingly  that  the  doughty  debater  did  not  even 
undertake  to  reply  to  it. 

"It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  political  speeches, 
resorted  to  none  of  the  tricks  common  among  what  are  called  stump 
speakers.  He  was  thoroughly  in  earnest  and  always  closely  argumenta- 
tive. If  he  told  stories,  it  was  not  to  amuse  a  crowd,  but  to  illustrate  a 
point.  The  real  questions  at  issue  engaged  his  entire  attention,  and  he 
never  undertook  to  raise  a  false  issue  or  to  dodge  a  real  one.  Indeed, 
he  seemed  incapable  of  the  tricks  so  often  resorted  to  for  the  discom- 
fiture of  an  opponent.  Fortunately,  the  Peoria  speech  was  reported, 
and  we  have  an  opportunity  of  forming  an  intelligent  judgment  of  its 
character  and  its  power." 

"Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  one  of  the  earliest   "lives," 

published  in    1866  by  Mr.  Holland. 


tigs?3 


m 


If  a  man  wilt  stand  up  and  assert,  and  repeat  and  reassert,  that  two  and  two  do 
not  make  four,  I  know  nothing  in  the  power  of  argument  that  can  stop  him. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.   16,   1854. 


JOSEPH  FORT  NEWTON 

"Twelve  days  after  the  encounter  during  the  State  Fair  the  two 
rivals  met  in  joint  debate  at  Peoria,  where  Douglas  spoke  for  more  than 
three  hours  in  presenting  his  side  of  the  case.  He  followed  the  outline 
of  his  Springfield  address,  ringing  the  changes  on  'popular  sovereignty,' 
and  approaching  dangerously  near  to  pathos  when  at  the  close,  as  a  bait 
for  Whig  votes,  he  pictured  himself  as  standing  beside  the  death-bed  of 
Webster  and  receiving  the  patriotic  mantle  of  that  ascending  statesman. 
To  those  who  recalled  how  he  had  fought  that  giant  with  all  the 
weapons  of  partisan  warfare,  such  an  appeal  must  have  been  amusing. 
Those  were  the  days  when  the  interest  of  audiences  was  equal  to  the 
endurance  of  orators,  and  when  it  came  Lincoln's  turn  to  be  heard  it 
was  supper  time.  Whereupon  he  told  the  people  that  his  argument 
would  not  be  less  lengthy,  and  asked  them  to  repair  to  their  provision 
baskets  and  return  at  seven,  announcing  that  Senator  Douglas  was  to 
reply.  After  a  scene  which  resembled  a  picnic,  the  audience  re-assembled, 
and  he  repeated  the  substance  of  his  Springfield  effort,  but  in  an  improved 
form,  both  as  to  compactness  of  argument  and  austerity  of  style.  In 
later  years  he  regarded  his  Peoria  address  as  in  some  respects  the  ablest 
he  had  ever  made,  and  since  he  wrote  it  out — entirely  from  memory,  for 
he  did  not  use  notes — and  published  it  in  successive  numbers  of  the 
Sangamon  Journal,  it  can  be  read  to  this  day.  While  it  contained  a  few 
of  the  catch  phrases  which  in  his  later  speeches  became  bywords  of 
popular  use,  it  was  by  far  the  most  clear-cut  and  masterly  forensic 
utterance  of  that  year,  if  not  of  the  whole  slavery  debate." 

"Lincoln  and  Herndon,"  published  by  The  Torch  Press,  Cedar  Rapids,  la. 


When  the  white  man  governs  himself,  that  is  self-government;  but  when  he 
governs  himself  and  also  governs  another  man,  that  is  more  than  self-government — - 
that  is  despotism. 

Peoria,  IIL,  Oct.   16,   1854. 

DENTON  J.  SNIDER 

"Now  this  Peoria  speech  has  a  very  important  biographical  interest 
as  being  the  first  recorded  utterance  of  the  new  Lincoln  after  or  even 
during  his  emergence.  For  when  he  made  it,  he  was  not  yet  fully 
emerged,  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  had  been  passed  by  Congress 
only  a  few  months  before.  All  was  yet  in  a  seething,  fermenting  stage; 
Lincoln  himself  was  more  or  less  in  that  condition;  he  had  yet  to  evolve 
somewhat,  as  well  as  the  whole  country.  Still  he  has  certain  distinct 
lines  of  thought  which  he  has  well  elaborated,  and  is  full  of  the  history 
of  the  subject  and  its  lesson. 

"His  main  proposition  is  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  ought  to 
be  restored.  For  the  sake  of  the  Union  it  ought  to  be  restored.  We  ought 
to  elect  a  House  of  Representatives  which  will  vote  for  its  restoration. 

"So  our  speech-maker  at  Peoria  on  that  October  day  proposes  still  to 
keep  the  dual  Union,  cause  of  never-ending  inner  conflict  and  turmoil,  to 
keep  it  by  compromise,  as  it  has  so  long  been  kept.  As  well  might  the 
children  of  Adam  seek  to  return  to  Eden,  from  which  they  have  been 
expelled.  Lincoln  shows  his  hatred  of  slavery  in  this  speech,  and 
pricks  many  a  sophistical  bubble  cleverly  blown  by  Douglas  for  vindi- 
cating himself  before  the  people.  Evidence  of  historic  study,  as  well  as 
a  deep  moral  earnestness  one  finds  in  the  well-considered  argument, 
which  has  also  keen  logical  thrusts  along  with  bright  metaphorical 
sallies.  But  there  is  a  total  absence  of  story-telling,  of  grotesque  humor, 
of  the  funning  and  fabling,  which  were  so  prominent  once  and  will  be 
again.  What  has  thus  sobered  him?  We  can  only  conjecture  that  his 
inner  wrestle  has  been  so  intense  that  it  has  for  a  time  overlaid  that 
strain  of  his  character. 

"Still  in  the  tone  of  the  speech  there  is  heralded  a  young  hope,  which 
elevates  and  illumines  its  seriousness.  Upon  Lincoln  has  dawned  a  bright 
auroral  promise  of  a  new  career  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years,  in  the 
very  flowering  of  his  highest  talent.  And  a  cause  has  been  given  him 
into  whose  advocacy  he  can  pour  forth  the  deepest  conviction  both  of 
his  moral  and  institutional  nature.  And  let  it  not  be  forgotten!  that 
adversary  and  antitype  of  his,  so  long  triumphant  over  him,  he  can 
now  clutch  with  the  grip  of  Ophiuchus  and  hale  the  violator  of  what 
he  deems  the  right  before  the  judgment-seat  of  the  Folk-Soul,  yea  of  the 
Ages. 

"Abraham  Lincoln,  an  Interpretation  in  Biography," 
Published  by  Sigma  Publishing  Co.,  210  Pine  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

10 


p^m 


Equal  justice  to  the  South,  it  is  said,  requires  us  to  consent  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  to  new  countries.  That  is  to  say,  inasmuch  as  you  do  not  object  to  my  taking 
my  hog  to  Nebraska,  therefore  I  must  not  object  to  your  taking  your  slave.  Now  1 
admit  that  this  is  perfectly  logical  if  there  is  no  difference  between  hogs  and  negroes. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.   16,   1854. 

IDA  M.  TARBELL 

"In  his  reply  at  Peoria,  Lincoln  began  by  a  brief  but  sufficient  resume 
of  the  efforts  of  the  North  to  apply  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to 
all  new  territory  which  it  acquired,  and  failing  in  that  to  provide  for 
the  sake  of  peace  a  series  of  compromises  reserving  as  much  territory  as 
possible  to  freedom. 

"This  Peoria  speech,  which  is  very  long,  is  particularly  interesting 
to  students  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches,  because  in  it  is  found  the  germ 
of  many  of  the  arguments  which  he  elaborated  in  the  next  six  years  and 
used  with  tremendous  effect.  With  the  Peoria  speech  Douglas  had  had 
enough  of  Lincoln  as  an  antagonist,  and  he  made  a  compact  with  him 
that  neither  should  speak  again  in  the  campaign." 

"The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Published  by 

the  Lincoln  Historical  Society. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

LORD  CHARNWOOD 

"But  the  greatest  gift  of  the  orator  he  did  possess;  the  personality 
behind  the  words  was  felt.  'Beyond  and  above  all  skill,'  says  the  editor 
of  a  great  paper  who  heard  him  at  Peoria,  'was  the  overwhelming  con- 
viction imposed  upon  the  audience  that  the  speaker  himself  was  charged 
with  an  irresistible  and  inspiring  duty  to  his  fellow  men.'  One  fact 
about  the  method  of  his  speaking  is  easily  detected.  In  debate,  at  least, 
he  had  no  use  for  perorations,  and  the  reader  who  looks  for  them  will 
often  find  that  Lincoln  just  used  up  the  last  few  minutes  in  clearing  up 
some  unimportant  point  which  he  wanted  to  explain  only  if  there  was 
time  for  it.  We  associate  our  older  Parliamentary  oratory  with  an  art 
which  keeps  the  hearer  pleasedly  expectant,  rather  than  dangerously  atten- 
tive, through  an  argument  which  if  dwelt  upon  might  prove  unsubstan- 
tial, secure  that  it  all  leads  in  the  end  to  some  great  cadence  of  noble 
sound.  But  in  Lincoln's  argumentative  speeches  the  employment  of 
beautiful  words  is  least  sparing  at  the  beginning  or  when  he  passes  to  a 
new  subject.  It  seems  as  if  he  deliberately  used  up  his  rhetorical  effects 
at  the  outset  to  put  his  audience  in  the  temper  in  which  they  would 
earnestly  follow  him  and  to  challenge  their  full  attention  to  reasoning 
which  was  to  satisfy  their  calmer  judgment." 

"Abraham  Lincoln,"  by  Lord  Charnwood. 
Published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Co.,  New  York. 

11 


Again,  you  have  among  you  a  sneaking  individual  known  as  the  "slave- dealer." 
It  is  common  with  you  to  join  hands  with  the  men  you  meet,  but  with  the  slave-dealer 
you  avoid  the  ceremony;  your  children  must  not  play  with  his.  Now,  why  is  this? 
You  do  not  so  treat  the  man  who  deals  in  corn,  cotton  or  tobacco. 

Peoria,  III.,  Oct.    16,    1854. 

FRANK  E.  STEPHENS 

"Inasmuch  as  the  hand  of  the  iconoclast  has  been  at  work  upon  the  Peoria  truce 
between  Douglas  and  Lincoln  in  1854,  the  writer  fortunately  has  been  furnished  by 
Hon.  Horace  White,  of  New  York  City,  with  an  item  of  evidence  which  must  sub- 
stantiate that  which  has  never  been  doubted  in  Illinois  before  the  present  moment: 
the  desire  of  Douglas  at  Peoria  to  discontinue  their  meetings  for  that  campaign. 

"At  the  time  of  the  Peoria  meeting,  Hon.  William  C.  Goudy,  the  warm  friend 
of  Douglas,  lived  at  Lewistown,  Fulton  County,  adjoining  Peoria  County.  The  night 
before  the  Peoria  meeting  was  spent  by  Douglas  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Goudy,  who 
very  soon  detected  a  more  than  noticeable  nervousness  in  his  guest. 

'Judge  Douglas,  you  appear  to  be  ill  at  ease  and  under  some  mental  agitation; 
it  cannot  be  that  you  have  any  anxiety  with  reference  to  the  outcome  of  the  debate 
that  you  are  to  have  with  Lincoln ;  you  cannot  have  any  doubt  as  to  your  ability  to 
dispose  of  him?'   asked  Goudy. 

"Stopping  abruptly  his  rapid  pace  backward  and  forward  across  the  room, 
Douglas  answered  with  great  emphasis:  'Yes,  Goudy,  I  am  troubled,  and  deeply 
troubled,  over  the  progress  and  outcome  of  this  debate.  I  have  known  Lincoln  for  many 
years,  and  have  continually  met  him  in  debate.  I  regard  him  as  the  most  difficult  and 
dangerous  opponent  that  I  have  ever  met  and  I  have  serious  misgiving  as  to  what  may 
be  the  result  of  this  joint  debate.' 

"The  Peoria  Republican  of  October  20,   1854,  gives  color  to  the  story: 

'Douglas  was  entitled,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  discussion,  to  an  hour 
after  Mr.  Lincoln  had  concluded.  He  arose  to  reply,  but  had  very  little  to  say.  He 
had  talked  himself  hoarse  in  the  afternoon,  and,  with  his  voice,  had  gone  his  argu- 
ments. He  made  a  feeble  effort  to  collect  them,  but  soon  became  conscious  that  the 
rout  was  complete.  The  people  saw,  and  it  was  scarcely  too  severe  to  assert  that  he 
himself  saw,  that  the  alluring  picture  of  "self-government"  that  he  had  drawn  had 
been,  by  the  magical  wand  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  obliterated — converted  into  "airy  nothing," 
and  proved  to  be  "the  baseless  fabric  of  a  dream." 

"Life  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,"  published  by  the 
Illinois  Historical   Society,   Springfield,    111. 


"To  the  judges  and  practitioners  with  him  at  the  time  I  knew  him,  when  he  had 
been  at  the  bar  twenty  years,  and  for  the  period  of  about  six  years  before  he  Was 
elected  president,  his  most  noticeable  characteristic  was  his  extraordinary  faculty  for 
correct  reasoning,  logic  and  analysis.  But  not  less  than  this  to  the  student  of  language 
or  rhetoric  was  his  clear,  full,  orderly  and  accurate  statement  of  a  case — so  fair  and  so 
perspicuous  that  it  was  often  said  that  after  Lincoln  had  made  his  statement  there 
was  but  little  occasion  for  argument  on  either  side." 

This  paragraph  is  an  extract  from  "Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  Lawyer,"  a  paper  read  before 
the  Kansas  Bar  Association  in  1897  by  Judge  A.  Bergen.  The  Peoria  Speech  showed  Lincoln  at 
his  best    and   will    thrill    the   reader   today   as   it   did   in   1854. 

12 


LINCOLN'S  INVITATION  TO  PEORIA 


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14 


Abraham  ICtnroln 

Uij  (£fnrnr  Jffttrlj 

As  years  merge  into  years,  still  grows  apace 
The  strength,  the  majesty  of  that  gaunt  face; 
The  greatness  of  that  soul,  that  master  mind; 
Still  grows  that  heart  more  wonderfully  kind. 
As  some  tall  mountain  that  has  slipped  away 
Behind  us  on  the  trail  through  all  the  day, 
And  yet  at  night,  full  many  a  long  mile  past, 
Still  looms  behind,  more  glorious,  more  vast. 

George  Fitch,  poet  and  humorist,  achieved  fame  while  a  writer 
upon  the  Peoria  Transcript.  This  tribute  from  his  pen  is  full  of 
feeling  and  understanding  of  America's  simplest  yet  greatest 
character. 


A  NEW  AMBROTYPE  OF 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

This  picture,  now  published  for  the  first  time,  in  "Lincoln  in 
Peoria,  Illinois,"  is  from  an  ambrotype  made  in  Peoria  in  the  earlier 
fifties,  it  is  believed,  by  H.  H.  Cole,  a  pioneer  of  the  art  who  died  in 
1925  at  the  age  of  94.  It  was  given  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  late  Richard 
D.  Smith,  of  Pekin,  who  at  that  time  conducted  a  store  in  Washington, 
Illinois.  The  original,  in  its  black  case  2^  x3  inches  in  size,  as  clear 
and  clean-cut  as  when  first  made,  is  in  the  possession  of  his  son,  Chas. 
B.  Smith,  city  editor  of  the  Peoria  Star,  who  has  been  offered  as  much 
as  $1,000.00  for  it.  "Dick"  Smith's  store  in  Washington  was  the 
rendezvous  for  such  "giants  of  those  days"  as  Lincoln,  who  practiced 
law  in  Tazewell  and  Woodford  counties;  Richard  Yates,  the  old  War 
Governor;  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  "Roaring  Dick"  Oglesby,  "Long 
John"  Wentworth,  "Long"  and  Sam  Jones;  John  A.  Logan,  "the 
Black  War  Eagle,"  and  others  whose  names  are  woven  in  the  history 
of  stormy  days  that  came  in  '61. 


15 


THE  OLD  MARKET  HOUSE 
The  old  market  house  of  my  boyhood  days — Allison's 
livery  stable,  close  by  the  bowling  alley,  the  wooden 
shutters  closed,  the  building  with  beer  kegs  in  front. 
Beyond,  the  Washington  House — Fred  Streibich,  the  pro- 
prietor, probably  back  behind  the  desk,  or  perhaps,  yes 
that's  it,  over  at  John  A.  Hudson's  grocery  and  the  market, 
for  court  is  in  session  and  Lincoln  and  a  crowd  of  jolly 
judges  and  lawyers  will  be  there.  How  they  will  feast  and 
what  rare  stories  they  will  tell!  In  front  of  the  grocery 
wild  ducks  are  piled  six  feet  high,  prairie  chickens,  wild 
turkeys  and  quail  are  there,  together  with  wild  geese  and, 
occasionally,  a  deer  may  be  seen  hanging  by  its  hind  legs. 

At  the  market  they  give  away  the  livers.  For  a  quarter 
one  may  buy  a  market  basket  full  of  spare  ribs,  tenderloins 
and  pigs'  feet.  Reynolds'  hams  cost  more,  for  they  are 
sugar  cured  over  hickory  coals  and  the  ruler  of  Germany 
buys  them  for  the  Imperial  table. 

It  is  a  picture  of  the  middle  50's.  Boats,  side-wheelers, 
from  St.  Louis  at  the  wharf  bound  for  LaSalle,  to  connect 
with  the  railroad  for  Chicago.  The  "Ocean  Wave," 
"Connecticut,"  "Gladiator,"  "Avalanche,"  "Prairie  State" 
and  "Prairie  Bird."  Farm  wagons  loaded  with  such  vege- 
tables, berries  and  melons  as  are  grown  nowhere  else  on 
earth  with  such  delicious  flavors  as  at  Peoria.  A  warmth 
comes  to  my  heart  as  I  look  upon  the  picture  and  think  that 
in  Peoria,  at  least,  Abraham  Lincoln  found  good  cheer  and 
comfort.  H.  H.  Cole,  the  artist,  made  a  daguerreotype  from 
which  this  picture  is  taken.  To  him  we  acknowledge  our 
indebtedness. 

These  are  representative  paragraphs  from  the  remarkably  inter- 
esting book,  "Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois,"  which  every 
lover  of  Lincoln  and  student  of  his  times  will  appreciate. 


16 


FROM    A     DAGUERREOTYFE     MADE    IN     1854 


THE  OLD  MARKET  HOUSE  AT  PEORIA,   ILL.,   IN    1854 


17 


THE  PHILOSOPHER 

By  Eugene   Baldwin,    famous   editor  of   The   Peoria  Stc 


Illinois  has  produced  no  more  bril- 
liant writer  nor  keener  critic  of  current 
events  than  the  late  Eugene  F.  Bald- 
win,  founder  and  editor  of  the  Peoria 

Evening  Slur. 

His  articles,  under  the  head  "The 
Philosopher,"  were  eagerly  sought  after 
and  gained  national  prominence.  The 
following,  written  shortly  after  the 
Lincoln  centennial  in  1909,  is  from  the 
pen   of   this   gifted   Peorian. 

(B.  C.  B.) 


The  following  is  an  extract  from  his  comments  on  Lincoln  as  they 
appear  in  "Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois": 

"When  the  news  of  his  death  reached  Peoria,  we  were  walking 
down  the  street  with  Enoch  Emery,  at  that  time  proprietor  of  the 
Peoria  Transcript.  Mr.  Emery  was  a  man  of  affairs.  He  was  con- 
fessedly the  ablest  political  writer  in  the  State.  He  had  a  good  deal  of 
literary  ability,  and  he  had  been  in  active  politics  for  a  good  many  years. 
As  we  neared  the  Court  House  square,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  was  crossing 
the  spot  and  a  crowd  of  his  admirers  stopped  him  and  asked  him  to 
make  a  few  remarks.  As  Emery  and  ourself  drew  near  the  spot,  Inger- 
soll said:  'A  great  man  has  fallen  in  Israel  this  day.  Abraham  Lincoln 
will  take  his  station  in  history  by  the  side  of  George  Washington.' 

"At  this,  Emery  took  us  by  the  arm  impatiently  and  walked  away, 
saying,  'Why  does  Bob  make  these  foolish  and  uncalled-for  statements? 
The  idea  that  Abe  Lincoln  will  take  his  station  beside  George  Wash- 
ington! Why  he'll  be  forgotten  in  five  years.'  This  statement  was 
universal  at  the  time.  Part  of  it  came  from — the  humor  that  was  such 
a  strong  element  in  Lincoln's  character.  When  Charles  Francis  Adams 
came  to  Washington  to  receive  his  instructions  as  minister  to  England, 
he  has  recorded  his  intense  astonishment  at  seeing  Lincoln  come  into 
the  room,  dressed  in  an  old  coat  with  the  sleeves  much  too  short  for 
his  huge,  bony  arms,  at  the  end  of  which  swung  an  immense  pair  of 
hands,  while  his  nether  extremities  were  clad  in  an  old  pair  of  pants 
much  too  short,  and  his  feet  were  encased  in  an  old  pair  of  slippers 
worn  down  at  the  heels. 

"Adams  was  the  embodiment  of  New  England  decorum  and  scholas- 
tic dignity.  He  never  escaped  the  consciousness  of  his  own  heredity  or 
forgot  for  a  moment  that  he  was  the  grandson  of  John  Adams  and 
the  son  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  at  this  moment  he  had  been 
chosen  to  represent  the  Republic  in  the  most  important  foreign  mission. 
Taken  aback  by  the  apparition  of  this  gaunt,  frowsy,  disheveled  figure, 
whose  hair  seemed  to  have  been  innocent  of  comb  or  brush  for  weeks, 
he  stammered  forth  a  few  sentences  expressive  of  his  appreciation  of  the 
high  honor  that  had  been  conferred  upon  him.    To  his  utter  ***** 

18 


COLONEL  ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL,  OF  PEORIA 

As  he  appeared  in  1861  when  he  departed  from  Peoria  as 

Colonel  of  the   11th  Illinois  Cavalry 

"From  early  childhood,  when  in  the  old  Court  House  in  Peoria  I 
used  to  sit  upon  his  knee  and  he  brought  me  big  red  apples  from  old  man 
Cutler,  Colonel  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  America's  foremost  orator,  was 
throughout  life  my  friend.  I  recall  standing  over  the  furnace  register, 
shaking  the  black  ostrich  plume  to  put  it  in  curl,  which  he  wore  upon 
his  hat  when  he  marched  away  as  Colonel  of  the  1 1th  Illinois  Cavalry. 
As  this  is  a  Peoria  story  of  Lincoln,  I  shall  here  insert  his  splendid  tribute 
to  the  martyred  President."  So  writes  B.  C.  Bryner  in  "Abraham 
Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois." 

A  few  extracts  from  this  wonderful  tribute  appearing  in  the  book 
are  here  reproduced. 

"Washington  is  now  only  a  steel  engraving.  About  the  real  man  who 
lived  and  loved  and  hated  and  schemed,  we  know  but  little.  The  glass 
through  which  we  look  at  him  is  of  such  high  magnifying  power  that 
the  features  are  exceedingly  indistinct. 

"Hundreds  of  people  are  now  engaged  in  smoothing  out  the  lines 
of  Lincoln's  face — forcing  all  features  to  the  common  mould — so  that 

19 


he  may  be  known,  not  as  he  really  was,  but,  according  to  their  poor 
standard,  as  he  should  have  been. 

"Lincoln  was  not  a  type.  He  stands  alone — no  ancestors,  no  fellows, 
and  no  successors. 

"Lincoln  was  a  many-sided  man,  acquainted  with  smiles  and  tears, 
complex  in  brain,  single  in  heart,  direct  as  light;  and  his  words,  candid 
as  mirrors,  gave  the  perfect  image  of  his  thought.  He  was  never  afraid 
to  ask — never  too  dignified  to  admit  that  he  did  not  know.  No  man 
had  keener  wit,  or  kinder  humor. 

"He  was  not  solemn.  Solemnity  is  a  mask  worn  by  ignorance  and 
hypocrisy — it  is  the  preface,  prologue,  and  index  to  the  cunning  or  the 
stupid. 

"He  was  natural  in  his  life  and  thought — master  of  the  story-teller's 
art,  in  illustration  apt,  in  application  perfect,  liberal  in  speech,  shocking 
Pharisees  and  prudes,  using  any  word  that  wit  could  disinfect. 

"He  was  a  logician.  His  logic  shed  light.  In  its  presence  the  obscure 
became  luminous,  and  the  most  complex  and  intricate  political  and 
metaphysical  knots  seemed  to  untie  themselves.  Logic  is  the  necessary 
product  of  intelligence  and  sincerity.  It  cannot  be  learned.  It  is  the  child 
of  a  clear  head  and  a  good  heart. 

"If  you  wish  to  know  the  difference  between  an  orator  and  an 
elocutionist — between  what  is  felt  and  what  is  said — between  what  the 
heart  and  brain  can  do  together  and  what  the  brain  can  do  alone — read 
Lincoln's  wondrous  speech  at  Gettysburg,  and  then  the  oration  of 
Edward  Everett. 

"The  speech  of  Lincoln  will  never  be  forgotten.  It  will  live  until 
languages  are  dead  and  lips  are  dust.  The  oration  of  Everett  will  never 
be  read. 

"He  did  merciful  things  as  stealthily  as  others  committed  crimes. 

"Almost  ashamed  of  tenderness,  he  said  and  did  the  noblest  words 
and  deeds  with  the  charming  confusion,  that  awkwardness,  that  is  the 
perfect  grace  of  modesty. 

"He  wore  no  official  robes  either  on  his  body  or  his  soul.  He  never 
pretended  to  be  more  or  less,  or  other,  or  different,  from  what  he  really 
was. 

"He  had  the  unconscious  naturalness  of  Nature's  self. 

"He  was  neither  tyrant  nor  slave.    He  neither  knelt  nor  scorned. 

"With  him,  men  were  neither  great  nor  small — they  were  right  or 
wrong. 

"He  was  patient  as  Destiny;  whose  undecipherable  hieroglyphs  were 
so  deeply  graven  on  his  sad  and  tragic  face. 

"Wealth  could  not  purchase,  power  could  not  awe,  this  divine, 
this  loving  man. 

"He  spoke  not  to  inflame,  not  to  upbraid,  but  to  convince. 

"He  raised  his  hands,  not  to  strike,  but  in  benediction. 

"He  longed  to  pardon. 

"He  loved  to  see  the  pearls  of  joy  on  the  cheeks  of  a  wife  whose  hus- 
band he  had  rescued  from  death. 

"Lincoln  was  the  grandest  figure  of  the  fiercest  civil  war.  He  is  the 
gentlest  memory  of  our  world." 

20 


SENATOR   STEPHEN   A.   DOUGLAS 

"The  first  duty  of  an  American  citizen  is  obedience  to 
the  Constitution  and  Laws  of  his  Country." 

— Stephen  A.  Douglas. 


21 


LINCOLN  IN  PEORIA,    1832 

The  year  1832  was  a  season  of  romance  and  adventure.  Black 
Hawk  had  terrorized  the  inhabitants  of  northern  Illinois — the  country 
was  but  sparsely  settled — Peoria  contained  but  twenty-two  buildings, 
including  the  Court  House,  store  and  blacksmith  shop.  An  Indian 
agency  had  just  been  established  and  there  was  a  branch  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  in  charge  of  John  Hamlin,  the  first  signer  to  the  call  for 
Lincoln  to  come  to  Peoria  and  reply  to  Judge  Douglas  on  October  16th, 
1854.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  two  met  here  for  the  first  time 
in  that  year  (1832).  It  is  a  great  temptation  to  extend  our  story  beyond 
the  confines  of  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  the  more  so  that  today  as  I  write, 
the  16th  day  of  June,  1926,  is  the  anniversary  of  Lincoln's  muster  out 
from  the  company  of  Captain  Elijah  lies — ninety-four  years  ago — and 
his  start  upon  the  Peoria  trail. 

We  vision  a  tall,  gaunt,  pathetic  figure,  whose  horse — borrowed — 
had  been  stolen,  trudging  parched,  deserted  prairies  or  seeking  rest  be- 
neath silent  forests.  Day  after  day  he  pursued  the  weary  way  from 
Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  by  way  of  Dixon,  Illinois,  at  last  to  catch  a 
view  of  a  beautiful  lake  lying  enfolded  by  wooded  hills,  a  promise  of 
Peace  and  Rest — PEORIA. 

We  transport  ourselves  on  the  wings  of  imagination  back  through 
the  years  to  that  eventful  day  and  are  seated  upon  a  puncheon  bench 
in  the  solitary  store  when  Abraham  Lincoln,  then  but  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  enters.  Here  are  gathered  the  hunters,  trappers  and  voyag- 
ers— yes,  and  a  few  Indian  traders.  There  was  companionship  which 
Lincoln  loved  so  much — and  rest. 

Here  Lincoln  and  Major  John  T.  Stuart,  his  companion  (later  his 
law  partner) ,  weary  with  traveling  by  foot,  purchased  a  canoe  and 
departed  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Peoria  for  Havana.  There  the  canoe 
was  sold  and  Lincoln  walked  across  country  to  his  home  in  New  Salem 
and  Stuart  walked  to  Springfield. 

This  excerpt  is  taken  from  "Abraham  Lincoln  in  Peoria,  Illinois."  It  is  charac- 
teristic of  B.  C.  Bryner's  pleasing,  reminiscent  style. 


22 


<       CJ 


23 


—7    2-7C  £^.szJ? 


A    PHOTOGRAPH    COPY    OF    LINCOLN'S    HAND    WRITING. 

WRITTEN    IN    THE    YEAR     185  8,    THIS    NOTE 

REFERS   TO  HIS   PEORIA  ADDRESS 


Both  Joseph  F.  Newton,  in  his  book  "Lincoln  and  Herndon,"  and 
Henry  Parker  Willis,  Ph.  D.,  in  his  book  "Stephen  A.  Douglas,"  say: 
"In  later  years,  Lincoln  regarded  his  Peoria  Address  as  in  some  respects 
the  ablest  he  had  ever  made." 


24 


A  NEW  LINCOLN  BOOK  WITH  MATERIAL  NEVER 
BEFORE  PUBLISHED 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
IN  PEORIA,  ILLINOIS" 

Over  300  pages  of  intimate  history  and  anecdotes  told  with  a  re- 
markably fine  attention  to  detail  and  presenting  numerous  important 
historical  side-lights. 

The  book  is  built  around  Lincoln's  visits  to  Peoria  and  his  famous 
reply  to  Judge  Douglas  on  the  night  of  October  16,  1854 — the  speech 
that  is  considered  by  many  historians  as  the  turning  point  in  his  life, 
and  which  eventually  made  him  President. 

Read  page  3  of  this  booklet  and  go  with  Lincoln  on  the  old  Peoria 
land  trails,  as  he  rode  the  circuit,  and  you  -will  vision  him  as  he  lived 
and  dreamed. 

When  you  have  purchased  this  volume,  read  the  tremendously  im- 
portant speech  Lincoln  made  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  on  the  night  of  October 
16,  1854,  and  you  will  know  Lincoln  as  he  was  in  1854.  The  princi- 
ples there  laid  down  remained  with  him  until  the  very  end. 

The  rare  and  exclusive  features  of  this  book  will  make  it  a  most 
treasured  volume. 

A  limited  edition  of  1,000  copies  is  being  printed  and  will  be  ready 
for  distribution  by  November  15,   1926. 

Price  of  this  volume,  cloth  bound,  gold  stamped,  containing  over 
300  pages,  profusely  illustrated,  postpaid  anywhere  in  the  United  States, 
$4.50;  Canada,  $4.75. 

LINCOLN  HISTORICAL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

424  Fulton  Street  Peoria,  Illinois 


Printed  in  the  U.   S.  A.    Edward  J.  Jacob,  Printer,   Peoria,  Illinois 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

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ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  IN  PEORIA,  ILLINOIS  PEO 


3  0112  031804831 


